Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
Coming off their bye week, the Eagles travel out to Green Bay for a matchup with the Packers on Monday Night Football at Lambeau Field. The Eagles beat the Packers twice in 2024, winning 34-29 in their season opener in São Paulo, Brazil, then beat Green Bay 22-10 in the NFC wild card round at Lincoln Financial Field. Coming off a 16-13 loss to the Panthers in Week 9, the Packers’ players have some extra motivation to right the ship against the Eagles on Monday night. » READ MORE: Eagles vs. Packers predictions: Rounding up the experts’ picks for ‘Monday Night Football’ Here’s what the Packers are saying about their primetime matchup with the Birds: ‘Clash of the titans’ At 5-2-1, the Packers are leading the NFC North, and Monday night’s game could be another postseason preview for the Eagles. “They’ve got guys everywhere, just like we’ve got guys everywhere,” Packers corner Keisean Nixon said. “So, it’s a clash of the titans.” Jordan Love said that while the Packers have a 1-0 mindset every week, the recent losses to the Eagles and the impact the game might have on playoff seeding gives it some extra meaning. “Having two Ls to this team last year, losing in the playoffs to them, [it’s] definitely a team, you make the playoffs, you know you’re going to see a team like this again,” the Packers quarterback said. “You’ve got to maximize these opportunities and you want to go win this game.” Christian Watson concurred with his quarterback. After tearing his ACL in Week 18 last season, the receiver missed the Packers’ wild card loss. He made his season debut on Oct. 26 and wants a win on Monday night. “It’s a great opportunity to have the defending Super Bowl champs come into Lambeau on Monday night,” Watson said. “We get an opportunity to do something big.” ‘There’s no gimmes out there’ The Eagles will look different coming out of the bye week, especially on defense. The team acquired Michael Carter II from the Jets and former Packer Jaire Alexander from the Ravens to shore up its defensive back depth, while also making a deal with the Dolphins to add edge rusher Jaelan Phillips before the trade deadline. Packers coach Matt LaFleur has watched film from Phillips’ games with the Miami Dolphins, but made it clear that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio could deploy defensive schemes that the team has not used previously. » READ MORE: Jaelan Phillips says trade to Eagles is ‘the greatest thing that’s happened to me’ “That’s what I’ve always respected about Vic,” LaFleur said. “He’s going to challenge you, they’re going to give you maybe some looks that are unaccounted for. But more than anything else, those guys play hard and they play fundamentally sound. There’s no gimmes out there.” Monday night will be like a homecoming for Alexander, who played seven seasons for the Packers before signing with Baltimore this offseason. Alexander struggled to get on the field for the Ravens this season, but may find playing time with the Eagles in his first game back at Lambeau Field. “I’ve got a lot of great memories from being here with Jaire,” Love said. “Obviously he’s a phenomenal player. We’ll see. We’ll see what it’s like, if he’s going to be out there, and what the situation might be coming Monday.” Nixon said he still communicates with his former teammate, adding that him and Alexander have “a really good relationship.” “I’m just excited to see him,” Nixon said. “I think he’s wearing, like, 18 or something, so, I’m going to give him [stuff] about that.” ‘It’s not like it can’t be done’ The Packers were at the forefront of attempting to ban the Tush Push at the league meetings in April. Efforts to ban the play were unsuccessful, and now the Packers face the Eagles for the first time since the Packers’ tried to get the play banned. Nixon had a different tone of the Tush Push as opposed to his coach. He noted Thursday that the Packers have been one of few teams to be successful in stopping the push. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve been one of the teams that’s stopped it every time we play them,” Nixon said. “It’s not like it can’t be done. So, I don’t really think about crying about it or stuff like that, it’s in the rule book right now. It’s legal, so there’s nothing that we can do about it. We’ve just got to play ball and stop it.” » READ MORE: The Packers tried to ban the Eagles’ Tush Push — and failed. Now they could face its wrath. ‘It is what it is.’ LaFleur said Thursday that the best way to stop the push is to keep the Eagles out of short-yardage situations. Nixon thinks the Packers are up for the challenge. The corner is also hoping that playing at Lambeau in primetime will give the Packers a new advantage. The Eagles have not played in Green Bay since the 2020 season. “I’ve been here four years and this is my first time playing the Eagles in Green Bay,” Nixon said. “It’s going to be a different atmosphere. It’s a good thing to have home field advantage. They usually always get the calls and stuff like that, so hopefully we get our calls.”
